What a year it has been! And for small business owners grappling with cash flow, supply chain issues, and staff shortages, it’s been even more tumultuous.
The good news is that we’re in the final stretch of 2025. The bad news? Many of us are crawling to the finish line, even though the holiday season might potentially be this year’s biggest revenue-driving season. To help keep your sanity so you can close out the year strong, we’ve compiled some suggestions on how to cope.
Be honest with your customers. If there’s one thing we’ve all gotten better at since the 2019 pandemic, it’s being flexible. If your business is experiencing issues right now, whether it’s appointment availability, fewer bookings because of staff, or products taking longer to arrive, be upfront with customers about what the problem is, how it’s impacting you, and what that means for their experience. This will help you set expectations early on and better manage issues as they arise.
Let someone else do the heavy lifting. Every business comes with tasks that are unpleasant to do. The great thing about this day and age is that you can often pay someone to do them for you or use a service that can make it easier.
If you’re getting inundated with emails or other administrative tasks, consider hiring a virtual assistant who can handle those tedious duties for you. Receiving similar questions from customers? Set up an FAQ page on your website. Automate as much as you can.
Delegate. When it’s your own business, it can be tough to hand the reins over to someone else. But there’s no reason you have to do everything yourself all the time. Learning to relinquish a bit of control is easier said than done, but your staff is there to help—so let them. Just keep in mind that not everyone will do everything the same way you would, and that’s OK!
Dedicate time to yourself daily. Easier said than done, right? But if you’re not in the right headspace, you won’t be much use to those around you. If you struggle to carve out time for yourself, try setting a daily appointment in your diary, even if it’s just for 10 minutes—after all, you wouldn’t flake on a scheduled appointment, would you? Use that time to focus on yourself, whether that’s meditating, going on a walk, listening to your favourite podcast, or even staring blankly into space. Just having some time to
Dare to dream. At the risk of sounding like a Pinterest quote, for many of us, 2025 was about survival: keeping things going, shifting gears at a moment’s notice, and adapting to rapidly changing restrictions.
But now with signs of normalcy ahead, it’s a good time to stop and give yourself kudos for all you’ve accomplished—and start thinking about what’s next. It might be that where you’re at is perfect. If that’s the case, fantastic! Enjoy that feeling.
For some, though, taking a moment to reflect on how far you’ve gone also opens up ideas about what else you can do. It might not be anything major and it might not be something you’re even ready to implement anytime soon, but just imagining what else is on the horizon can help put a spring in your step to close out the year.